AGGREGATE LICENSING

• US 20070244828A1
• Filed: 04/12/2007
• Published: 10/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Mahmoud Shahbodaghi
• Original Assignee: Mahmoud Shahbodaghi
• Inventors: Shahbodaghi, Mahmoud
• Application Number:
  US11/734,523
• Publication Number:
  US 20070244828A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/59
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

A system and method for the on-line licensing of reproducible digital works includes a listing service which allows a plurality of ad-hoc offers to be aggregated to create a licensing fee minimally acceptable to the creator of the work. All qualified contributors to the aggregated fee are thereafter entitled to a license to a reproduction of the work. The system allows the creator of the work to list the work on-line and specify a minimally acceptable licensing fee. The system keeps track of all offerors and their respective offers until the sum of the offers exceeds the minimum licensing fee specified by the owner of the work. The licensing fees are then collected from all offerors and the work is distributed. A listing fee may be extracted from the aggregate fee to be paid to the owner of the work.

Claims

1. A method for licensing a product for a minimum licensing fee, comprising the steps of:

a. accepting offers from a plurality of offerors;

b. aggregating said offers;

c. checking to see if the sum of said aggregated offers equals or exceeds said minimum licensing fee; and

d. if said minimum licensing fee is equaled or exceeded, granting a license to use said product to said plurality of offerors.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

a. collecting respective offers from said plurality of offerors; and

b. rendering payment in the amount of said aggregated offers to the licensor of said product.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of collecting a fee from the potential licensor of said product prior to accepting said offers.

4. The method of claim 2 further comprising the step of subtracting a fee from the amount of said aggregated offers prior to rendering payment to said licensor.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said offers are accepted for a predetermined period of time or until said aggregated offers equal or exceed said minimum licensing fee.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said product is posted on a web page served by a web server.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein said web server maintains a database of potential offerors and further wherein an offeror must be registered in said database before being permitted to tender an offer.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein said web server maintains a plurality of products for which offers for licenses are accepted, further comprising a search facility to allow a plurality potential offerors to search for products of interest among said plurality of products.

9. The method of claim 6 further comprising a facility for collecting payment from said licensees and rendering payment to said licensor.

10. The method of claim 6 further comprising a facility for the storage of said products.

11. The method of claim 6 further comprising a facility for delivering or allowing delivery of said licensed product to said plurality of offerors.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein said offers must exceed a minimum offer amount.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said minimum offer amount is unknown to said plurality of offerors when said offers are made.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of allowing one or more third parties to provide subsidies to individually accepted offers.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein said subsidies are added to said individual offers before they are aggregated.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein said subsidy provided to individual offerors is determined on a per-offeror basis, and wherein said subsidy may be different for different offerors.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein said one or more third parties may attach advertising to said product prior to its delivery to said offerors, in exchange for said subsidy.

18. The method of claim 12 wherein offerors submitting an offer exceeding said minimum offer amount may share in a percentage of future profits earned from the licensing of said product.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein said percentage of future profits to be shared with said offerors submitting an offer exceeding said minimum offer amount is set by said licensor at the time of the initial offering of said product.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein said percentage of future profits is split among said offerors submitting an offer exceeding said minimum offer amount on a pro rata basis based upon the amount of each offer in excess of said minimum offer amount.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein said minimum licensing fee may be adjusted up or down prior to having said minimum licensing fee equaled or exceeded by the aggregate of said plurality of offers.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein any one of said plurality of offers may be valid only for a limited time, during which said minimum licensing fee must be equaled or exceeded.

23. The method of claim 12 wherein said minimum offer amount may be adjusted prior to having said minimum licensing fee equaled or exceeded by the aggregate of said plurality of offers.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein any one of said plurality of offers may be adjusted prior to having said minimum licensing fee equaled or exceeded by the aggregate of said plurality of offers.

25. A method of accepting a minimum number of orders at a set price for a tangible product, comprising the steps of:

a. advertising said tangible product at one or more prices, said prices being determined by the minimum number of offers required at each of said prices;

b. accepting offers from a plurality of offerors at one of said one or more prices;

c. checking to see if the number of offers at any one of said one or more prices exceeds the required minimum number of offers at that price; and

d. delivering said tangible product to each of said offerors submitting offers at or above said price for which a minimum number of offers have been received.